obama pause about supporting the arab spring movements. the president said no. >> i was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that they're going to be bumps in the road. >> reporter: in pueblo, colorado, the republican nominee bee rated the president, accusing him of downplaying syria's threat. >> he said the developments in the middle east are bumps in the road. [ laughter ] >> yeah, that was my reaction. bumps in the road? we had an ambassador assassinated. >> reporter: the white house insisted the president was referring broadly to transformation in the region. >> there's a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at word and phrases here to find political advantage, and in this case, that's profoundly offensive. >> reporter: this debate comes before an intensely serious international backdrop, iran's nuclear weapons program and its potential threat to u.s. ally israel. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad flashed a peace sign at the u.n., but war is on the front burner. one of his generals openly discussed launching a pree